Oil-Free Vegan Roasted Butternut Squash and Kale Pasta with Sage

It is officially Autumn now even though we are having a warm Indian summer in California. But the season calls for one of my favorite dishes–Butternut Squash Pasta with Sage. Traditionally, I have loved Butternut Squash Ravioli with Brown Butter Sauce and Fried Sage Leaves. I set out to make a plant-based version of my all-time favorite, which clearly rules out the brown butter.

To make a plant-based recipe, I started with organic frozen butternut squash, which I had in stock. I just had a small bag of the squash, so I made a recipe to make just 2 servings. Using the cubed dozen squash really simplifies the preparation.

As you can see, butternut squash makes a very low calorie, non-fat addition to a pasta. I decided to roast the squash with garlic and shallots.

I thinly sliced a large shallot and 3 small garlic cloves and added that to the squash on a parchment lined tray and roasted them for about 30 minutes at 375 degrees. The aromas of the shallot and garlic aroused the curiosity of the family –what’s cooking?

While the squash was roasting, I boiled some water for the pasta and added about 1 cup of dry pasta shells.

After about 10 minutes, I added a cup of frozen curly blue kale, and some spices–a little nutmeg, cinnamon and crushed red peppers.

I cooked the kale and pasta for about 5 more minutes, just until the shells were al dente, and drained the mixture, reserving the cooking liquid.

It’s amazing how each shell stuffs itself with the kale!

After the squash and shallots and garlic had roasted for 30 minutes, I added some fresh sage leaves and continued roasting for 5 more minutes.

Then I mixed the pasta and kale together with the squash mixture, adding a little of the pasta liquid.

 

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Then I served the pasta with a little salt and freshly ground pepper. Yum! The taste of autumn.

Here is the recipe to make 2  servings:

Oil-Free Vegan Roasted Butternut Squash and Kale Pasta with Sage

Ingredients:

1 10 oz bag frozen cubed butternut squash

3-4 cloves garlic, diced

1 large shallot, thinly sliced

About 25 fresh sage leaves

1 cup dry pasta shells

1 cup chopped frozen kale

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp red pepper flakes

salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:

Roast the squash, shallots and garlic for 30 minutes at 375 degrees, then add the sage leaves for 5 more minutes

Boil 2 cups of water and add the pasta fand cook for 10 minutes, then add the spices and kale and cook for 5 more minutes or until pasta is al dente.  Drain the mixture, reserving the liquid.

Mix together the cooked pasta and kale with the roasted squash mixture, adding a little of the reserved liquid, and season with salt and pepper to taste.

Buon Appetito!